Mike Feuer: City attorney champions social justice while remaining tough on crime

The following story appeared in the Park Labrea News and Beverly Press 70th Anniversary issue, published April 21. To view the entire issue, click here.

One of the nation’s most powerful prosecutors and most influential legal leaders calls the Fairfax District home.

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer’s ties to the local area run deep. His grandparents lived near Fifth Street and Crescent Heights Boulevard, and while he was growing up in San Bernardino, his family frequently visited the neighborhood on weekends. And as a city councilman and legislator, he represented the area for 20 years.

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer began his politcal career as the City Councilman for the 5th District from 1995-2001. (photo by Edwin Folven)

Feuer fondly remembers going to Canter’s Deli and Diamond Bakery on Fairfax Avenue, and he enjoyed the neighborhood’s distinctive Jewish culture and tradition as well as its diversity.

“All the culture of Fairfax is deeply ingrained in my memories growing up,” Feuer said. “One of my strongest memories was going home in a car filled with pickles and rye bread and corned beef. It was always a pleasant ride back to San Bernardino.”

Feuer’s father was a teacher and school administrator and his mother a homemaker and administrator at the University of California-San Bernardino. Both were committed to improving society and standing up for one’s principles, and imparted values that still guide his life. Feuer said his parents were his inspiration.

“I grew up in a house where the most important values focused on how to help other people, and from a very early age, I had a very strong sense of social justice,” Feuer said. “Very importantly, a feeling of how important it is to stand up for people who can’t stand up for themselves. [My parents inspired me] not just by words alone, but by example. It was a natural progression for me to go from trying to find ways to improve what was happening in my community to eventually running for public office.”

Feuer said he was also inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, whose assassinations were deeply troubling to Feuer during his childhood. He said their values and willingness to fight for social justice also put him on a path that led to the Los Angeles City Council, the California State Assembly and the City Attorney’s Office.

Feuer graduated from Harvard Law School and clerked for California Supreme Court Justice Joseph Grodin before entering private practice. He later took a position as director of Bet Tzedek, a legal services organization formerly based on Fairfax Avenue. He said it was a milestone in his life. At Bet Tzedek, he fought for the rights of senior citizens, the disabled and disadvantaged. Feuer built a close relationship with Jewish Family Services and helped guide people in need to organizations that could help better their lives.

While at Bet Tzedek, his biggest concern was for the thousands of seniors on fixed incomes who did not have enough money for food. He said many seniors sometimes ate cat food to survive, and it stuck with him. He resolved to find solutions and decided to run for city council.

Feuer was elected as city council representative for the 5th District in 1995. One of the first things he did in office was secure funding for a meal delivery service for seniors and others who couldn’t afford to buy nutritious food. He also volunteered in the local community and served meals to seniors during the holidays.

He vividly remembers Thanksgiving during his first year on the council when he asked his son Aaron to help him serve meals to the needy. His son was a boy at the time and was initially upset they wouldn’t be home on Thanksgiving. After thinking about it, Aaron pulled some coins from his piggy bank and asked if he could give them to the people he would be serving. Feuer said it was a special moment that showed his work was not only helping others, it was teaching by example.

Feuer represented the 5th District for six years. He chaired the Budget and Finance Committee. He helped create gang-prevention and job creation programs and fought for resources for education. He also focused on gun violence prevention, a hallmark of his work today as city attorney.

Feuer said he always viewed the City Attorney’s Office as a vehicle for enacting social change while protecting citizens’ rights. He left the council in 2001 to run for the office, but was narrowly defeated by Rocky Delgadillo. Feuer said it inspired him to continue fighting for what he believed in. It also led him down another path that took him to Sacramento.

In 2006, Feuer was elected to the State Assembly representing the 42nd Assembly District, which included the Melrose and Fairfax Districts, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. He spent six years in the Assembly, serving as majority policy leader and chair of the Judiciary Committee. He authored a law requiring gun manufacturers to use micro-stamping technology. Because of the law, guns sold in California have a feature that imprints a serial number onto bullet casings when they are fired. The law is a valuable tool for solving crimes involving gun violence.

He also jointly authored the Homeowners Bill of Rights and a law requiring the removal of cancer-causing agents in consumer products. Feuer also helped pave the way for Measure R to be placed on the ballot. The transportation measure raised the countywide sales tax by a half-cent, generating millions of dollars for public transportation projects including Metro’s Purple Line Extension subway project along Wilshire Boulevard.

Feuer was forced to leave the Assembly in 2012 because of term limits, but didn’t stay idle. He launched a vigorous campaign for city attorney and defeated Carmen Trutanich in 2013.

Feuer believes the City Attorney’s Office is a vehicle to advance social justice reform while protecting people from crime. He views both roles as being intertwined, because improving communities has an impact on everyone’s quality of life.

Shortly after taking office, Feuer expanded the Neighborhood Prosecutor program. A deputy city attorney is now assigned to every police division in the city to work directly with residents. Neighborhood prosecutors field citizen complaints about issues ranging from illegal dumping and graffiti to drug sales and gang activity. They are liaisons between community members, the police department and the City Attorney’s Office.

Feuer regularly joins neighborhood prosecutors at community meetings throughout the city. Face-to-face meetings keep residents informed and help the City Attorney’s Office stay proactive in addressing issues, he added.

“There are so many communities in this city and many people feel too distant from city government,” Feuer said. “People often don’t feel like their needs are being addressed by city hall, and I want to change that.”

Feuer is proud of his efforts to prevent gun violence, and has prosecuted gun owners who fail to keep firearms secure. One of the most troubling situations is when guns end up in the hands of children who take them to school, he said.

Feuer joined with Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. to create Prosecutors Against Gun Violence, a non-partisan organization working on public policy solutions. He has worked on creating gun violence restraining orders, in which guns are taken from people arrested for domestic violence.

“There was no system in place for those situations,” Feuer said. “That’s a dangerous person. It’s very important to make sure that those people don’t have guns.”

Enforcing Prop. D, a voter-approved initiative that allowed some medical marijuana dispensaries to operate but gave the city authority to close illegal dispensaries, has been tops on his list. Under Feuer’s watch, more than 700 illegal dispensaries have shut down citywide and more than 350 criminal cases have been filed against operators.

The city attorney continues to target billboard companies seeking to circumvent city laws to erect new signs, as well as banks using high-pressure tactics to sell customers services they don’t want. He is at the forefront of the legal action surrounding the Porter Ranch gas leak and an effort to bring more transparency to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

Feuer added the City Attorney’s Office is the perfect vehicle to better people’s lives on a large scale and plans to run for the office again in 2017.

“There are basic values people expect to be validated by this department,” Feuer added.

“Being a councilman was great training for this job. People care a lot about what’s happening on their block. I try to never lose sight of that.”